Armoured car with a rotatably arranged gun turret



F. HORN 2,976,769

ARMOURED CAR WITH A ROTATABLY ARRANGED GUN TURRET March 28, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 3, 1958 March 28, 1961 F. HORN 2,976,769

ARMOURED CAR WITH A ROTATABLY ARRANGED GUN TURRET Filed June 5, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent ARMOURED CAR WITH A ROTATABLY ARRANGED GUN TURRET Franz'Horn, Dusseldorf, Germany, assignor to Rheinmetall G.m.b.H., Dusseldorf, Germany Filed June 3, 1958, Ser. No. 739,509

Claims priority, application Germany June 8, 1957 4 Claims. (Cl. 89-36) The invention relates to an armoured car with a rotatably arranged gun turret to which a gun is pivotably attached by means of trunnions.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an armoured car of this kind having low overall height and which thus offers to the enemy a target diflicult to recognize and therefore difiicult to fight.

Heretofore armoured cars have been provided'with gun has an aperture in the pivoting region of the gun barrel rear portion, such aperture being coverable by a shutter the position of which, with a horizontally pointed barrel, is not higher than that of the turret roof and which, with the barrel muzzle in a lowered position covers upwardly and laterally the rear portion of the gun barrel when it projects above the said roof.

Preferably, the shutter is shaped so as to form a box like member open at the bottom.

The shutter can be coupled in various ways, for example, in such a way that it is pivotally supported by the gun trunnions.

Furthermore, the shutter can either be positively connected to the gun barrel or be so constructed that it is caught by the gun barrel as the barrel muzzle is lowered, in which case it is advantageous to provide the shutter with stop flanges which rest on the outside of the turret roof when the gun barrel is in its horizontal position.

In the drawing, two exemplary embodiments of the invention are illustrated in which,

Fig. 1 is a part-sectional side elevation of an armoured fighting vehicle,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the vehicle shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the vehicle shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 4 is a detail, on an enlarged scale of a modified form of shutter with adjacent parts, in parts sectional view.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the drive mechanism of the armoured car is denoted by the numeral 1 and the rotary gun turret by 2. The gun barrel 4 is pivotably supported on the latter, by means of trunnions 3, and the aperture in the turret for the barrel is covered externally by a shutter 5. The roof 6 of the turret is situated immediately above the horizontally pointed gun barrel-as may be seen especially from Fig. 3and is provided in the pivoting region of the rearward barrel portion, with an aperture which is indicated in Fig. 2 at 7.

In the case of Figs. 1 to 3, this aperture is covered by a shutter supported so as to be pivotable about the trunnions 3, the shutter consisting of a box open at the bottom having the top 8 and the lateral walls 9, 10 and an end wall 11. As shown, the shutter is caught by the gun ice barrel as the barrel muzzle is lowered, and gradually swings upwardly out of the turret roof, as shown by the dotted-line indications in Fig. 1.

While the gun barrel is in horizontal position and also when the barrel muzzle is lifted, the shutter top 8 rests on the turret roof with flanged edges 12 and 13 so that sufficient armoured protection or" the turret space is achieved under all conditions. The essential feature is that under ordinary conditions, i.e. with a horizontally or upwardly pointing barrel, the resultant total height of the vehicle is very low and its vulnerability therefore greatly reduced.

In the case of the modification shown in Fig. 4, the arrangement is similar except that here the shutter which consists of the top 14, lateral and longitudinal walls 16 and an end wall 15, is directly connected to the gun barrel 4 so that the shutter travels downwardly together with the rear portion of the barrel, to vanish in the turret as the barrel is lifted. It may be considered that the shutter 5 shields the rear end part of the barrel and a breech mechanism of the gun.

What I claim is:

1. An armoured car comprising a rotatable gun turret havin an open forward end in which a gun is pivotally mounted on trunnions, a roof for said turret located immediately above a barrel of the gun when the latter is in a horizontally disposed position and having an opening therein, and a shutter for covering said opening in the roof of the turret, said shutter extending the length of the opening of the turret and having a part movable upwardly therewith to screen the rear portion of the gun barrel when the latter is in lowered position and the shutter projects out through the opening in the roof of the turret.

2. An armoured car comprising a rotatable gun turret having an open forward end in which a gun is pivotally mounted on trunnions, a roof for said turret located immediately above the barrel of the gun when the latter is in a horizontally disposed position and having an opening therein, a shutter having a top and downwardly extending walls forming a. box-like structure for covering said opening in the roof of the turret extending along the side and rear portions of the gun, said shutter extending the length of the opening of the turret and having the walls movable with the top to screen the rear and side portions thereof when the gun barrel is. in lowered position and the shutter projects out through the opening in the roof.

3. An armoured car comprising a rotatable gun turret having an open forward end in which a gun is pivotally mounted on trunnions, a roof for said turret located immediately above the barrel of the gun when the latter is in a horizontally disposed position and having an opening therein, a shutter having lateral walls and an end wall for covering said opening in the roof of the turret, means for pivoting said shutter on the trunnions of the gun barrel, said shutter extending to the roof of the turret when the gun barrel is horizontal, and said shutter having the walls movable upwardly relative to the gun barrel to screen the rear and side portions thereof when the gun barrel is in lowered position and the shutter projects out through the opening in the roof.

4. An armoured car comprising a rotatable gun turret having an open forward end in which a gun is pivotally mounted on trunnions, a roof for said turret located immediately above the barrel of the gun when the latter is in a horizontally disposed position and having an opening in the roof, a shutter for covering said opening of the turret and extending the length of the opening in the turret, said shutter having flanges and a part movable upwardly relative to the gun barrel to screen the rear portion thereof when the gun barrel is in lowered position, the flanges on said shutter being engageable with the said roof of the turret when the gun barrel is in horizontal and lowered positions.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,370,148 Colby Feb. 27, 1945 4 Stacey Dec. 13, 1949 Turner Oct. 5, 1954 Wabnitz July 5, 1955 Boufiort Aug. 14, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain May 25, 1953 

